Commanders!

We are happy to announce that the Asian-themed Spirithaven season is now available!



The core of the Spirithaven season is a new set of Asian (mostly Japanese and Korean) vehicles as well as the continuation of the Special Operations storyline, but also the addition and improvements of various aspects of the game. Here’s what’s new:




A new set of Asian progression vehicles appears in Francine De Laroche’s vehicle pool, each with fairly different playstyle.



The following vehicles are initially available:

• Type 16 MCV Tier 7 TD – unlocked either from C13 TUA (Francine De Laroche) or Type 90-II (Zhang Feng), this wheeled Tank Destroyer is somewhat similar to the Centauro. Unlike the Centauro, however, it features a unique ability called AI Target Assistant, allowing you to aim more precisely at moving targets. You can read more about it in our dedicated article
• Harimau Tier 8 LT – this Indonesian machine is the embodiment of what makes the Light Tank class so fun to play – fast and well-armed, it is perfect for aggressive gameplay the Light Tank drivers love so much. You can read more about it in our dedicated article

Additionally, a Premium vehicle will be available at launch:

• K21 Tier 8 AFV – this fast Korean IFV with powerful armament will be available for Gold directly in the game. With its excellent mobility, it is the perfect tool for delivering infantry right where it needs to be. You can read more about it in our dedicated article

But that’s just the beginning. Three more progression vehicles will be arriving at a later date during the season:

• K-153C Tier 9 AFV, a light four-wheeled highly mobile platform armed with a double Javelin-like Raybolt ATGM launcher. You can read more about it in our dedicated article
• AS21 Redback Tier 9 AFV, a heavy IFV with all the gameplay systems you know and love – top-attack Javelin style ATGMs, 30mm PELE rounds and Mechanized Infantry. You can read more about it in our dedicated article
• And yes, finally, the long-awaited K2 Black Panther Tier 10 MBT itself with its own slew of interesting characteristics and gameplay elements that we will tell you more about in the near future.

Of course, what would be a new line with additional customization elements? New camouflages, decals and vehicle-related achievements await you as well as a brand-new commander, Kwon Han. This Lodestar GmbH veteran will come with a unique set of abilities suitable for the fast-paced gameplay the new vehicles offer. You can read more about him in our dedicated article




Almost a year has passed since Hana Buric and Austin Harper helped Magnus Holter to escape Enigma's Moscow prison. The Resistance grew stronger, but it's still not powerful enough to wage a large scale war. That is why Magnus offered to capture a key asset of the enemy — James Todd Litteral, the leader on the National Patriot Activist Army.



He's one of the few people on the planet, who can provide the Resistance with Enigma's command center coordinates, allowing them to take out Enigma and its leader, Victor Blaze, in one fell swoop.



Four new Special Operation missions await you during this season. Two missions are currently available with two more coming during the season.




A new Contract Mission campaign also awaits you in Update 0.31 with similar mechanics to those used during the American Dream one. We’ve made a few tweaks for your convenience but the core of it will remain the same. In fact, there will only one major difference – the main prize.



This time, you’ll be able to unlock the Type 89 Tier 7 AFV with its excellent mobility and firepower. You can read more about it in our dedicated article




This season, we’re introducing a brand-new in-battle User Interface. This is something we wanted to do for a while now and hope that this iteration will be to your liking.



More improvements and customization options are coming in the foreseeable future. In this dedicated article, you can learn more about the center part of the new UI.




Along with the new UI, we are introducing a number of visual enhancements to the game. Take a look:



Not only do the new models look amazing, we are also introducing the following changes to the appearance of the existing ones:

• Dynamic Dirt system
• Overall graphics improvements for all models

You can read all about these improvements in our dedicated article.




We’re introducing two types of APS modes that are acting like active abilities rather than standard APS:

• Supercharged Hard-Kill APS (intercepting most incoming projectiles for a short period of time)
• Supercharged Soft-Kill APS (diverting enemy ATGMs away from your vehicle)

You can read about both systems in our dedicated article.




All of the above is, however, only just a portion of what the Spirithaven season will offer. A steady stream of content will be available throughout the season.



Here’s what you can look forward to in the next couple of months:

• Mid-March: Third Special Operation
• Late March: K-153C, AS21 Redback, K2 Black Panther, Commander Kwon Han, Artillery in Global Operations, improved Team Damage punishment system
• End of March: Fourth Special Operation
• End of March: Major, yet unannounced event
• April to May: A number of events and seasonal celebrations

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

Today, we have a special offer for you. A veritable treasure trove of 10.000 Gold awaits you at a discounted price. You can find it until March 1, 01:00 CET, at the MY.GAMES Market.



Please note that this item can only be purchased once per user. You can find out more about Gold and its uses in our dedicated article.



See you on the battlefield!

On the 25th of February 2020, starting from 8:00 CET (24th of February, 11 PM PST), the server will not be available for 5 hours due to the application of Update 0.31.



Please note that the content of this major update will be disclosed in a separate post.

Commanders!

The Spirithaven PTS is available for a while now and you’ve had the opportunity to see the upcoming Update 0.31 with your own eyes. It brings plenty of new features, but also some adjustments to the existing ones, including vehicles. And few are as discussed as the upcoming nerf to the performance of the top prize of the Last Patriot Battle Path, the CATTB Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank. In today’s article, we’d like to tell you more about the changes coming to it.



First things first – let’s take a look at what’s going to happen with it in Update 0.31. Here’s an excerpt from the 0.31 patchnotes concerning this vehicle:

• Reduced the protection from HEAT projectiles (kinetic projectile protection remains the same)
• This vehicle now has a Ready Rack mechanism
• Reload time between shots increased
• The current active abilities (Overdrive, Rapid Fire) were replaced by the Zero In ability (increasing the reload speed and camouflage at the expense of mobility)
• Reduced hitpoints from 3750 to 3650

At the risk of stating the obvious – these changes are being introduced to somewhat reduce CATTB’s performance because CATTB is overpowered. This is a fact that is very likely obvious to anyone driving this tank and significantly contributed to CATTB’s popularity (extremely high popularity of a vehicle is a good first indicator that something is not right).

Our intention is not to nerf it to the ground, but to introduce some weaknesses that would break this tank’s stranglehold on high-Tier gameplay that it currently enjoys.

To do that, we took a look at the global issue with the MBTs that were introduced lately. One of the issues that were often discussed last year was that of the power of ATGMs. Simply put, high-Tier ATGMs were a little too powerful and in our effort to balance the situation, one of the things we did was that we made new MBTs too resistant to HEAT shells. This in turn made high-Tier ATGMs mostly obsolete in PvP (save for very special cases like the Javelins or the kinetic ATGMs), but – as a side effect – it also made high-Tier HEAT ammo quite useless.

In CATTB’s case, what we got was a tank that was impervious to most threats because, apart from its intended excellent protection against kinetic rounds, it also got the “standard” (also excellent) anti-HEAT protection of its Tier and class and that was, quite frankly, a bit too much. The solution we decided to implement is therefore to make it weak against one particular warhead type – yep, you guessed it. That would be HEAT. As such, this vehicle still offers excellent protection but has to beware incoming HEAT projectiles and ATGMs, which makes it – again, intentionally – an excellent anti-MBT tool, but worse off against other classes.

Even with these nerfs, the vehicle will be far from defenseless against ATGMs anyway:

• The turret is still strong, you can hide your hull behind terrain
• You can use the hydraulic suspension to angle your hull to become less vulnerable
• The vehicle also has excellent smoke grenades and APS
• The sides with ERA also offer excellent resistance to ATGMs and you can use those to deal with incoming fire

As for the other adjustments – they are more of a trade-off type. Ready Rack behaves somewhat differently than a standard magazine, offering sustainable firepower (unlike a clip). The Zero In ability compensates for one of the tank’s main weaknesses and makes it less of a one trick (burst) pony.

We hope that you will still enjoy your excellent CATTB tanks despite these necessary changes and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

For this weekend, we’ve prepared for you a special set of missions in celebration of the Defender of the Fatherland day in Russia.

Originally, this holiday was established after the end of the Great War in the Soviet Union as a celebration of the Red Army and its victories during the Russian Civil War. Over the course of the 20th century, however, it became a celebration of men and the military as a whole as well as their role in defending the lives and freedoms of the people of Russia and several post-Soviet countries.



Apart from a 200% (x3) bonus to Experience income for the first victory of the day in PvP and GLOPS that will be active until Sunday, a set of fifteen missions will become active. These missions will be available from February 21 to February 25, 2020. There will be three daily missions – one for PvE, one for PvP and one for Global Operations.

Completing each mission will award you with valuable items, but even more valuable prizes are waiting for you if you complete a certain number of these missions in total:

• For completing 5 out of 15 missions, you will receive the T-90 Tamanskaya Division skin (read more)
• For completing 12 out of 15 missions, you will receive 5 Object 640 Loot Crates and a new Avatar

You can track the active missions and prizes on our dedicated web page.

Please note:

• For the purposes of this event, a day starts at midnight GMT each day (1 AM CET, 3 AM MSK). The event, which launches on February 21 at 1 AM CET, therefore ends on February 26, 1 AM CET
• These missions will only be available that respective day (eg. Friday missions will only be possible co complete on Friday)

We hope that you will enjoy the event and will see you on the battlefield!

On the 21st of February 2020, starting from 8:00 CET (20th of February, 11 PM PST), the server will not be available for 5 hours due to the application of Update 0.30.5976



 

• Fixed the issues with various ATGMs

Commanders!

This week, we have several Premium vehicles of Russian origin for you, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. You can choose from the following vehicles:

• T-72B3 Tier 8 Premium MBT
• BMPT Mod. 2017 Tier 8 Premium TD
• Object 640 Tier 10 Premium MBT (available via Loot Crates)

Between February 20 and February 27, 2020, the following items will be available:




The T-72B3 is the most modern Russian T-72 variant currently in service. It is a heavily upgraded version of the T-72B, featuring Kontakt-5 ERA kit and an improved Fire Control System. Together, these modifications allow the aging T-72 to serve well into the 21st century. You can learn more about its history in our dedicated article!



In Armored Warfare, the T-72B3 is a Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank. It continues the tradition of other Russian tanks. Its low silhouette, good mobility, powerful 125mm gun and its advanced ERA kit make it a formidable opponent. This version of the T-72B3 is offered without any camouflage.








The BMPT Mod.2017 is one specific version of the BMPT Terminator that was deployed in 2017 in Syria for extended testing along with some other Russian prototype equipment, including the SU-57 jet fighter and the Uran-9 combat robot. It consists of a modified T-90 hull with a modernized turret from BMPT-72 installed on it. Another major difference was the presence of a new type of Explosive Reactive Armor that was made of soft fabric bags with explosive filler. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the BMPT Mod. 2017 is a Tier 8 Premium Tank Destroyer and arguably the most powerful variant of the BMPT family. Like the others, it combines a tank hull with an unmanned turret, armed with two 30mm cannons as well as four missile launchers. Its thick armor and advanced ATGMs quickly made it one of the most feared vehicles of Tier 8 battlefields, a position it retains to this day.








The Object 640 is one of the last Soviet era “super tank” monsters, designed to surpass anything the west could field on the battlefield. It featured extremely advanced armor, making it highly resistant to hits while keeping its weight low. The design was truly revolutionary for the late 1980s, but, like with many other Soviet projects of the era, it was discontinued due to the lack of funding. You can learn more about it in a dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the Object 640 “Black Eagle” is a Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank. It is a fast, agile and well-protected vehicle that plays in a typical Russian-style MBT fashion – ideal for players who want to take things up close and personal. This version of the tank does not feature any camouflage and is ready to be customized as you see fit.

The Object 640 MBT is available in our Web Shop via Loot Crates. Collect 100 blueprint pieces from these crates to obtain the vehicle.





We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

On the 20th of February 2020, starting from 8:00 CET (19th of February, 11 PM PST), the server will not be available for 5 hours due to the application of Update 0.30.5971



 

• Fixed the issue that caused ATGMs to sharply turn away from the intended target
• Fixed an issue where ATGMs could sometimes miss the target when fired at close range
• Overhauled the English description of vehicle traits
• Fixed a number of English localization issues
• Added a number of Russian-themed assets for the Defender of the Fatherland event

Commanders!

Today, we’d like to tell you more about a historical skin that will be available for the T-90 Main Battle Tank – the Tamanskaya Division.

As its name suggests, this skin will change the appearance of your T-90 MBT to that of the famous 2nd Guards Motor Rifle "Tamanskaya" Division "Mikhail I. Kalinin", one of the most famous Soviet, and later Russian, armored units.



The Tamanskaya division was founded in 1940 as the 127th Rifle Division and was renamed to 2nd Guards Rifle Division in 1941 in honor of its combat exploits during the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa, during which it was severely depleted. The unit fought for the rest of the war, liberating Crimea from Nazi occupation in 1944, the Baltic States a few months later and ending the war near Kaliningrad. Apart from the Guards title (reserved for elite Soviet units), it received the honorary name “M.I. Kalinin” in 1946 (a prominent Bolshevik revolutionary, a Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union during the war and the person Kaliningrad was also named after).



The unit would exist in one form or another for the entire duration of the Soviet Union, but only became truly famous during the events connected to its dissolution. In 1991, it was involved in a hardline Soviet coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachov, during which it switched sides and was instrumental in defeating the coup.



Two years later, in 1993, it was once again involved in the Russian Constitutional Crisis and it was one of its tanks that fired at the White House in Moscow (the seat of the Russian parliament) in support of Boris Yeltsin, marking the end of the Soviet government system in Russia once and for all. Some elements of the division were also deployed in Chechnya during the Second Chechen War in 2000, but mostly only as a security force.



In 2006-2007, a portion of the unit (Tamanskaya Division's 1st Guards Motor Rifle Regiment) was re-armed with T-90 Main Battle Tanks. The division was split in 2009 into two motor rifle brigades only to be reformed five years later as a part of the effort of Vladimir Putin to bring back old and famous Soviet units to life in order to maintain the sense of historical continuity.




When it comes to tanks, the new Tamanskaya Division is armed with T-72B3 and T-90 Main Battle Tanks, the latter being represented by the abovementioned skin, which is based by the division vehicle’s appearance from 2015 or so.

The T-90 Tamanskaya Division skin will be available for free during an upcoming event. Stay tuned for more info and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

Today, we would like to show you another one of the three additional progression vehicles that will be introduced after the launch of the Spirithaven season – the AS21 Redback.



The AS21 Redback is a South-Korean modern export IFV prototype, designed specifically for Australia’s LAND 400 Phase 3 program to replace the aging M113AS4 APCs in Australian service by 450 modern, well-protected IFVs.

Australia has sought to replace its older vehicles with something more modern. When the contest was announced back in April 2018, the South-Korean Hanwha Defense company, responsible also for the K21 IFV, saw the opportunity to show the world what it was truly capable of and applied with an IFV proposal named AS21 Redback. The designation does have a meaning: AS stands for Australia and the name Redback refers to the venomous Australian Redback spider that is one of the few spiders that can actually kill a human with the neurotoxins they produce (the fact that it also considers houses great places to settle in does not help either, but I suppose that’s Australia for you).

The truly interesting part of the designation, however, is the number 21 – it seems that the marketing department of Hanwha tried here to refer to the excellent reputation of the K21 IFV. Plenty of sources also mention that the vehicle is closely based on the K21, but it’s not really true – the Redback is likely only very loosely based on the abovementioned vehicle (possibly using some of its components) and is more or less an offshoot of the K31 program, which is in fact the program to develop K21’s future replacement. Unlike the other LAND 400 Phase 3 program competitors, it was designed specifically for Australia, giving it quite an advantage.

The vehicle was first mentioned during the 2018 Ground Forces exhibition (pointing to a rather rapid development process) while the first prototype was unveiled in October 2019, but we’ll get to that. Let us first take a look at the vehicle’s characteristics.



The Redback IFV weighs 42 tons (of which 6 tons go to the turret), has a crew of three men (commander, gunner and driver) and can carry 8 troops in the back. As for its protection level, it is likely quite good as the sheer weight of the vehicle suggests. The basic hull protection level without any additional armor is STANAG 4569 Level 2 (protection versus 7.62mm AP bullets) and is made of steel (unlike K21’s aluminum armor). However, images of several variants were shown, which include:

• Hard-kill APS (seems to be a version of the Israeli Iron Fist system)
• Modular armor plating
• Integrated sensor kit with 360 degrees coverage, paired with Elbit’s IronVision system (the operator has a helmet that allows him to see everything outside thanks to a large number of external cameras as if he was not sitting in a tank at all)
• Laser Warning System
• Integrated 76mm smoke grenade launcher with 4 barrels on each side of the turret

In other words, everything points out to this vehicle being tough as nails, just the way the Australians like it. We’re likely looking at something along the lines of STANAG 4569 Level 6 with the additional armor installed, which would make it impervious to most Chinese and Soviet 30mm autocannons, at least frontally.

Nor much is known about its mobility, save for its maximum speed of 65-70 km/h (35-40 km/h off-road) thanks to its MTU 881 Ka-500 diesel engine. The engine is mounted in the front of the vehicle. The suspension is similar to that of the K21 IFV and the operational range is around 520 km.



The T2000 manned turret of this vehicle carries two primary weapon systems – an integrated Spike-LR2 launcher (which can elevate, release its deadly payload and depress back into the turret) and a 30mm cannon called Bushmaster Mk.44S that can use various types of ammunition (even programmable). It’s worth noting that Hanwha states the weapon system can be upgraded to a 40mm cannon or Bushmaster Mk.3 35/50mm cannon. The Bushmaster Mk.44S autocannon has the following characteristics:

• Rate of Fire: 100 to 200 rounds per minute
• Depression and Elevation angles: -10 to +60 degrees
• Ammo carried: 200 rounds
• Feed system: double feed (one belt with APFSDS-T shells, the other with HE shells, can be switched instantly)

The commander has a set of panoramic sights at his disposal that can be installed independently or as a part of the EOS R400S Mk.2HD weapon system. Additionally, Hanwha is offering its excellent Battlefield Management System as a part of the deal.

As you can see, Hanwha decided to closely cooperate with the Americans (the EOS company) and the Israelis (Elbit’s IronVision and Iron Fist systems) to maximize its chances.

As was mentioned above, the first prototype was unveiled to public in the October of 2019, but one month earlier, in September 2019, the LAND 400 Phase 3 contest was narrowed down to two competitors – the Redback and Rheinmetall’s KF41 Lynx. There were two other contenders, but both were disqualified – the AJAX platform by General Dynamics Land Systems (because it was considered unsuitable for the use by the Australian military) and the CV90 by BAE Systems (because it was too expensive).



The “unsuitability” argument concerns two major Australian requirements – the transportability by a Canberra-class LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) the Australian Navy operates and the transportability by a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. Both are extremely important to Australia because the vehicles have to be possible to deploy around Australia’s outer defense perimeter that consists of smaller islands.

One more potential contender was also discussed – it was the German PSM company with its Puma IFV, but PSM decided not to participate.

As the next step, the Australian Ministry of Defense signed (or will sign) a contract with both companies to produce three prototypes each for extended testing until the autumn of 2020. This phase is called Risk Mitigation Activity and is likely to last until late 2021, at which point the winner of the massive 10 billion USD contract will be declared. In this clash, Rheinmetall has a bit of an advantage – the wheeled Boxer IFV by the same company was already chosen as the winner of the Phase 2 contract (for an armored recon vehicle).

But one thing is for sure – Hanwha won’t give up without the fight. Both companies have already pledged to include technology transfer and offsets in their contracts – if Rheinmetall wins, the Lynx is planned to be produced in Ipswitch, while the Redback production is planned to take place in Geelong, south of Melbourne. The winner will likely achieve the IOC status (vehicles deployable in their very basic form) by 2024-2025 and the FOC status (full operational capability) in the early 2030s.

Interestingly enough, the outcome of this program may influence another major contract for the Australian Army called LAND 8116 for 30 new 155mm Self-Propelled Guns, in which Hanwha’s K9 Thunder is competing against Rheinmetall/KMW’s Panzerhaubitze 2000.

In Armored Warfare, the AS21 Redback will be a Tier 9 progression Armored Fighting Vehicle that will be unlockable from the Harimau Tier 8 Light Tank and will be one of the two vehicles on Tier 9, the other being the K-153C.



Gameplay-wise, it will, however, be a complete opposite to it – where the K-153C will be a light, nimble four-wheeled AFV, the AS21 Redback will be a rather heavy tracked IFV with emphasis on protection.

Indeed, when it comes to the AFV class, its armor will only be second to the T-15 Armata heavy IFV. In addition to that, the vehicle will have the Iron Fist APS available.

The mobility will, on the other hand, be only average. The Redback will be powered by a 1000hp MTU diesel engine, yes, but will, at the same time, weigh 42 tons, which means that agility and acceleration will not be its strong suit. It will not be a total slouch either, but maximum speed (64 km/h) or acceleration (0 to 32 km/h in 3.76s) will not be what this vehicle will be all about.

What it will be about, though, is – apart from protection – also its firepower. It will feature two weapon systems:

• 30mm Mk.44 Bushmaster chain gun
• Javelin ATGMs

The Javelins you are, of course, already familiar with – these top-down missiles will ruin the day of anyone who gets in Redback’s sights. The Redback will feature two of those missiles, which will be possible to launch in relatively rapid succession (3 seconds between shots, followed by a longer reload period).



The autocannon, though, will feature several popular elements you know from other vehicles:

• Chain feed (1000-round magazine that does not need to be reloaded)
• Solid and easy to control rate of fire (400 rounds per minute)
• Excellent gun depression and elevation (-8/+60 degrees)
• PELE rounds (you know you love them!)

And, last but not least, the AI Target Assistant feature that is already available on the Type 16 MCV Tier 7 Tank Destroyer. This ability will work both in automatic and manual aiming modes.

In the automatic mode, normally, marking targets with right click will automatically aim your gun at the center of the target and keeps it locked there. In addition to that, the Redback autoaim will also “lead” the target – if the target is, for example, moving from right to left from the Redback gunner’s point of view, the gun will aim ahead of the target so that when the trigger is pressed, the shell will fly towards where the target is going to be at the time it will cross its trajectory. In the manual mode where you control the gun, you will see a marker indicating where to aim to hit the target moving on its current trajectory.



The AS21 Redback will also be able to carry Mechanized Infantry. The downside to this vehicle (apart from the abovementioned average mobility) will be its poor stealth – even though it will feature a module reducing the effectiveness of enemy thermal imagers, such a large vehicle is simply too conspicuous to hide easily.

In summation, what we will have here will be more akin to the Leclerc T40 than a scout AFV. With its good armor, firepower and advanced electronics allowing it to spot its targets on time, it’ll be quite a destructive vehicle and a good option for the players who prefer to protect themselves and deal some damage rather than play hide and seek with their opponents.

We hope you will enjoy it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!